You Look Better In Blue And Bronze
by Princess Scherbatskaya
Summary: What would happen if Harry Potter was sorted into Ravenclaw? If Harry questioned the problematic aspects of the wizarding world, what would he do? How much change can one young wizard effect, while pursuing friendships and recovering from an abusive childhood. A muggleborn wizard with two moms? No big deal. Hogwarts students don't go to college when they graduate? What?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: But the books - must be wrong!**

**I don't anything Harry Potter at all. J.K. Rowling does.**

Harry didn't pay much attention to the other inhabitants of Number Four, Privet Drive, during his last month with the Dursleys. He was sure, however, that they were very frightened of him, as they had stopped speaking to him at all. Harry didn't mind their neglect, as it was better than their usual treatment and it gave him the opportunity to read his school texts in peace.

Harry named the snowy owl he'd been given Artemis, after the goddess of the hunt, and tended to her as she flew in and out of his opened window while he studied late into the night, eagerly absorbing all of the material he knew he would depend upon in school. Harry couldn't wait to learn magic, and he couldn't wait to leave Privet Drive.

Harry knew that in order to get to the train station, he would either need a ride or some money. As he didn't want his family to know about the small fortune held underground in Gringotts, in late August, Harry decided to approach his uncle to ask for a ride.

As the young wizard ambled down the stairs, his cousin squeaked and ran into his room, slamming the door behind him.

Nonplussed, Harry saw Uncle Vernon in the living room and carefully walked over to where he was sitting.

"Uncle Vernon?"

His uncle turned to him and paled slightly as his eyes rested on Harry.

"What is it?"

"I need to be at King's Cross and I was hoping if you would give me a lift."

Harry grew anxious as Uncle Vernon stared at him. After several minutes, he nodded and left the room.

As Harry let out a breath, he realized that he needed to start packing.

The next morning, Harry was left alone standing in front of a group of people with flaming red hair. As Harry moved to approach them, a girl with a head of bushy brown hair bumped into him.

"Oh, sorry, I was looking for my parents. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry about that." said Harry as he got up.

The girl gasped as Harry brushed his hair out of his eyes.

"I know who you are. You're Harry Potter."

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Please keep it down, last time people heard that they wouldn't let me move for twenty minutes."

She nodded, and with a grins, said, "Well, Mr. Secret, I'm Hermione Granger. Can you help me find my parents. I went to the bathroom and lost them."

Harry smiled and said, "Of course."

Hermione smiled back at him.

As they looked around, Hermione asked, "Do you know what House you'd like to be in?"

Harry replied, "Either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. How about you?"

Before Hermione could answer Harry's question, the two kids were stopped adults who turned out to be Hermione's parents.

"There you are, Hermione. We've been looking for you. Who's this?" asked Hermione's father.

"This is Harry Potter, another first-year here. He was helping me look for you."

As Hermione and her father talked, Hermione's mother was staring at Harry, making him slightly nervous.

Hermione noticed her mother's odd behavior and asked, "Mum, are you alright?"

"Yes, dear. I was just thinking about something."

As Harry looked thoughtful, Hermione's parents started hurrying them towards the platform.

Harry and Hermione boarded the train as it started moving. Before Hermione could say good-bye to her parents, the train started picking up speed.

Hermione looked upset as her parents flashed past the window. Harry, unsure as to what to do, offered the girl a hug, like he'd seen Aunt Petunia do for Dudley when he was upset, as she looked about to burst into tears. As he was about to pull away, Hermione pulled him closer and clung to him tighter.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" asked Harry, concerned.

Hermione sobbed into his shoulder, "I'm going to miss them so much, Harry."

Harry held her and stroked her back as he would pet a cat, to soothe her. Harry resisted the temptation to scratch her behind the ears, as he had a feeling she might not respond well to that.

After a while, Harry and Hermione, still clinging to her new friend, looked for an empty compartment.

As Harry lifted Hermione's and then his luggage into the designated rack, Hermione looked eager to start conversation. "Harry, what's your favourite subject?" she offered, wondering just how much magic her new friend had already studied.

Harry thought for a moment. "I like our history book, because it's fascinating, but I'm interested to learn about potions, because it sounds like it'd be useful for research, or being a doctor."

Hermione grinned, "So you've only studied our texts? But what's it like being a wizard? Have you gotten to do loads of magic as a kid? It seems so interesting -"

Harry cut her off with a wince: "I wouldn't know, since I only just found out a month ago I could do magic. Well, beyond accidental magic anyways. I get the feeling that my Aunt and Uncle don't really like magic, and I'm pretty sure they can't do it."

Hermione frowned. "But the books - must be wrong," Hermione switched gears, not wanting to further upset her new friend. She didn't push the matter, something for which Harry was grateful. "I like transfiguration best, because…"

After an hour or two, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry jumped up and looked around for Mars Bars, but noticed that there weren't any. Instead he got some Cauldron Cakes and Licorice Wands.

Hermione stared at Harry as he went back into their compartment.

"You're going to share, right?" she said with a smile on her face.

Harry grinned back. "Of course."

After an hour, there was a knock on the door of their compartment, followed by round-faced boy who walked in.

"Sorry, but have either of you seen a toad at all?" asked the boy.

When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me."

"He'll turn up," said Harry.

Hermione looked torn as she wanted to help the boy, but didn't want to leave her friend by himself, something to which Harry remained entirely oblivious.

The boy left as the train entered a tunnel.

"Why was your mother looking at me?" asked Harry.

Hermione stopped in her attempt to get one of her books and said, "I'm not sure."

As Hermione got her book and sat down to read it, three boys entered the compartment.

A pale boy looked straight at Harry and said, "The name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Hermione giggled at the way Malfoy introduced himself.

Malfoy looked at her and said, "Think my name's funny, do you? Who are you, by the way?"

Hermione and Harry looked at each other as Hermione said, "Granger, Hermione Granger."

At this both Harry and Hermione started laughing.

Confused, Malfoy looked at his friends, who looked just as befuddled.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter. Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents."

Harry paled as Hermione glared at Malfoy.

Before anything else happened there was a knock on door, which opened to reveal a pair of twins, both with flaming red hair.

"What's going on here?" asked the one on the left.

"Why, George, I believe that these Firsties have to learn about the initiation, don't they?"

As Malfoy looked at his friends in fear, both twins winked at Harry and Hermione.

"Let's see there 5 of them and only two of us, hmmm."

"I know, let's go get Lee."

"We'll be back."

As soon as they were gone, Malfoy and his cronies fled from Harry and Hermione's compartment.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other as the twins came back.

"So what was going on?"

"We heard Malfoy from our compartment."

The twins looked at Harry, who still looked a bit pale.

Hermione spoke up. "They were talking bad about Harry's parents."

Both twins immediately had angry faces.

"Looks like-"

"A bit of-"

"Pranking is about-"

"To commence."

As they looked at Harry, both twins smiled and said, "Harry, there's nothing to worry about. He wasn't the nicest person you'll meet. We'll teach him not to mess with you, alright?"

Harry looked at them and smiled.

The twins saluted at Harry and bowed at Hermione before leaving the compartment.

"They seemed nice." said Hermione.

Harry nodded as he noticed the train was starting to slow down.

"We should change."

Hermione nodded and left the compartment so Harry could change.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Harry stepped out so Hermione could change into her robes. As she joined Harry, the train slowed down and stopped. As they attempted to get off of the train, people kept pushing into them.

Finally, they stepped onto a tiny, dark platform. Hermione noticed that Harry was shivering, so she got closer to him.

As they stood there, they heard a voice say, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

"C'mon, follow me. Firs' years follow me!"

"He's a huge man." said Hermione as they saw who was guiding them.

The man had a long, shaggy, mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

As Hermione kept holding onto Harry, they were stumbling as they followed the owner of the voice down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Hermione snuggled into him as they passed by the trees.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the man called over his shoulder, "Jus' round this bend here."

The First Years looked impressed as the narrow path opened onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" said the man as he pointed to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Harry and Hermione were followed into their boat by the round-faced boy and another redhead.

The man shouted, "Everyone in? Right then, Forward!"

The boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake. Around halfway there, Hermione asked, "Are you still cold, Harry?"

Harry smiled and said, "A little bit."

Hermione held onto him tighter as the first boats reached the cliff.

They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around a huge, oak front door.

The man raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

**So I just adopted this fic from Smoshfan777. Thank you so much for letting me play in your world. Reviews are always appreciated. I hope you enjoy the story!**


	2. Chapter 2: Where'd the phoenix come from

**Chapter Two: Where did the phoenix come from?**

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said the huge man.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

Harry whispered to himself, "So that's his name."

Hermione turned to look at him and asked, "Did you say something, Harry?"

Harry silently shook his head as they followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. The first years were led into a small, empty chamber.

They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall was saying as Hermione whispered into Harry's ear, "Thanks for making me feel better, Harry."

Harry smiled at his new friend and whispered back, "No problem."

They smiled at each other as Professor McGonagall said, "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on the round-faced boy's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on a red-headed boy's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair as Hermione giggled at his futile efforts.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

As she left, something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air and caused Hermione to scream in his ear.

About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost- I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them.

"About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely, which caused the ghosts to look at each other and smile.

As one, the ghosts grouped together and faced the first years.

The Fat Friar smiled and said, "My old house was Hufflepuff. Hope to see you there."

The ghost in a ruff and tights nodded and said, "I was once in Gryffindor. I hope those of noble heart shall follow."

A ghost wearing robes covered with silver blood spoke up. "As a Slytherin, surely those of you made of cunning and ambition shall join me."

A tall woman looked at Harry and Hermione and said, "Anyone chosen to become a Ravenclaw is a friend of mine."

"Move along now," a sharp voice heralded the return of Professor McGonagall. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. Harry had liked them, they seemed accepting. Particularly the Grey Lady and the Fat Friar had seemed kindest to Harry, and hadn't really advertised the qualities of their houses, although Harry had known about them from his reading.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Slightly nervous, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Hermione behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Harry was speechless as he looked around the Great Hall. There were four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. At the top of the hall was another long table where Harry recognized Professor Flitwick, who had accompanied him to Diagon Alley**.**

Harry looked up and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History."_

Harry whispered back, "I know. So did I."

Smiling at Hermione's astonished face, Harry looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat.

Several seconds later, the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the hat began to sing:

_As you can see, I'm a hat_

_All you have to do is try me on_

_Then I can decide where you belong_

_So let's get started and have some fun._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where we are brave and mighty._

_Or perhaps in Slytherin,_

_Where we are ambitious and sneaky._

_How about Hufflepuff,_

_Where we are loyal to each other._

_Maybe Ravenclaw is the place to be,_

_Where we learn a lot together._

_Let the Sorting begin!_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Harry and Hermione heard the red-haired boy whisper to his friend.

"So we've just got to try on the hat. My brother lied to me!" Harry wondered for a moment exactly what the boy's brother had said, but thought no more of it.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbot, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell over her eyes, and sat down.

A second later, the hat shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time.

As the Sorting went on, Harry noticed the hat sometimes shouted out the house at once, but occasionally took longer to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Harry gave Hermione a small smile as she made her way to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Longbottom, Neville."

The boy who lost his toad fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with him. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal Morag." Harry frowned, and personally didn't find his classmate's forgetfulness funny, after all he was also terribly nervous.

Malfoy stepped forward when his name was called and put the hat on. Not even a second had passed when the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends, looking pleased with himself.

The Great Hall grew quiet as Harry was called.

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear.

"You are a very tricky person to Sort. Where should you go?"

Harry thought to himself, Ravenclaw sounds nice.

"It does seem like you are meant to be a Ravenclaw. If you're sure, it better be RAVENCLAW!"

Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Ravenclaw table.

Harry was so relieved to have been put in the same house as Hermione, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet.

Harry sat down opposite the Grey Lady, who smiled at him. Hermione gave him a tight hug as soon as he had sat down.

As soon as the Sorting was done, Dumbledore got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we tuck in, I wish to say a few words. No matter what house you are in, everybody here shall be treated with respect. Thank you!"

Hermione laughed as Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he like to eat on one table. Dudley always took anything that Harry really wanted. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat as Hermione told him about herself.

Soon after, Hermione started talking about lessons.

"I do hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult."

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were talking. A man with a turban was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.

It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past the man with the turban and looked straight into Harry's eyes at the same moment that Harry's scar emitted a sharp, hot pain.

"Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.

"What is it?" asked Hermione.

"N-nothing."

The pain vanished as quickly as it appeared.

Harry watched the two teachers for a while, but neither looked at him.

A second later, Professor Dumbledore go to his feet again as the hall fell silent.

"Ahem- just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. As should a few of our older students."

Dumbledore looked pointedly at the twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Dumbledore's words left the students looking serious.

"And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Ravenclaw first years followed one of the prefects through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase.

As they walked, Harry was so tired he kept leaning on Hermione. After several more flights of stairs, the group of students stopped in front of a door with no doorknob or knocker. Smiling to herself, the prefect knocked on the door.

"Where did the phoenix come from?"

The prefect turned to the students. "To get into Ravenclaw tower, you have to answer the question correctly. Any guesses?"

The first shook their heads, amazed.

Hermione held Harry up as he kept leaning on her.

"Hmm let's see, the sun." answered the prefect.

"Well said."

The door opened to a room full of books. The first years were led into the common room.

"Boys dormitories are on the left, girls on the right. Breakfast starts at eight. So, make sure you get there early. Classes start tomorrow."

Harry bade Hermione good night as he made his way to his dormitory. Too tired to talk, Harry pulled on his pajamas and fell into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.

**Hope you guys like it. Don't forget to Review.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Uses of Hellebore

**Chapter Three: The Uses of Hellebore in Healing Potions**

The next morning, Harry woke up to find his roommates had already gone down to breakfast. As soon as he got dressed, he went down to the common room, where he found Hermione waiting for him.

"About time, Sleeping Beauty! We're going to be late."

Grinning sheepishly, Harry followed Hermione to the Great Hall.

Whispers followed Harry the moment they left Ravenclaw tower. Harry looked around, embarrassed as they reached the already nearly full Ravenclaw table. When they got their breakfast, a prefect, who introduced himself as Roger Davies, handed out their schedules.

Harry looked down his schedule and saw that their first class was Charms.

As soon as he and Hermione finished their breakfast, they made their way to their first class.

Professor Flitwick had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he nodded and smiled at Harry.

Their next class was Transfiguration. As everybody sat down, Professor McGonagall gave them a speech.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said.

"Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. Harry and Hermione looked at each other impressed, but then realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time.

After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, Harry and Hermione were the only ones who managed to complete their task. Professor McGonagall gave them both 5 points.

The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defence against the Dark Arts, but Quirell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke.

Friday came by, leaving Harry feeling as though he'd been swept in a whirlwind.

"What have we got today?" Harry asked Hermione who rolled her eyes at her friend and pulled out her schedule.

"Double Potions with the Hufflepuffs," said Hermione.

Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

Artemis hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a package onto Harry's plate.

Hermione noticed and her face turned an interesting shade of pink as Harry opened the note that accompanied it.

Harry,

You told me you never really got presents so I decided to get you something nice. I hope you like it.

Love from Hermione.

Harry smiled at Hermione, who smiled back as Harry opened his gift.

Harry lifted a mirror out of the box and looked at it curiously.

Hermione giggled and explained to Harry. "It's a Foe-Glass. If you look in it, it shows you who your enemies are."

Harry looked into it and saw nothing but shadowy figures.

As he set it down, Harry gave Hermione a tight hug and said, "Thanks, Hermione, I love it."

Hermione smiled at him and said, "It was nothing. Let's hurry up, we're going to be late."

Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

Professor Snape started the lesson by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.

"Ah, yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new celebrity."

Harry looked at Hermione who shrugged back.

Professor Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. His voice was hardly above a whisper, but the class had no trouble hearing him.

"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death."

More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Hermione looked at each other and immediately decided to do their best in this class.

"Potter, quit looking at your girlfriend and tell me what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry and Hermione blushed as Harry answered the question.

"Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death, sir."

Professor Snape looked at him, befuddled that the first-year already knew that, and surprised that this one was showing him respect. He gave an obligatory: "5 points to Ravenclaw. I want all of you to write that down."

There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment.

Hermione was still slightly red as Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs.

Harry and Hermione were paired together. They swished and stirred, slicing and dicing ingredients, and finished their potion before anybody else.

The professor looked at them in surprise and took a sample of their potion, without a word. They decided to study their text, to prepare for the essay they were set on the uses of hellebore in healing potions.

As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry looked at Hermione as she avoided his eyes.

"Hermione, are you alright?"

Hermione looked at him and blushed slightly, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Harry smiled at her, and Hermione smiled back.

"The week's finally over."

Things couldn't be too bad for the weekend.

**Hope you guys like it. Don't forget to review.**


	4. Chapter 4: This Doesn't Look Right

**Chapter Four: Hermione, this doesn't look right**

**I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does.**

Harry didn't want the weekend to be over so soon, but when he realized that flying lessons would be starting on Thursday, his sluggish annoyance was replaced with excitement.

Hermione, however, wasn't looking forward to it.

On Thursday morning, Harry tried to help Hermione overcome her fear.

"Hermione, you have nothing to worry about. There's going to be a teacher there. They'll make sure nothing goes wrong."

Hermione grinned weakly, but still looked queasy, as they finished their breakfast.

At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Hermione and the other Ravenclaws hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Hufflepuffs were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard several of the older students complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked.

"Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!'"

Everybody shouted, "Up!"

Harry's broom jumped into his hand almost immediately. Hermione's rolled slightly on the ground.

As soon as everybody had their brooms in their hands, Madam Hooch showed them how to mount them without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Hermione looked slightly nervous.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch.

"Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle, three, two-."

But Hermione pushed off before hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, young lady!" she shouted.

Harry paled as he realized what happened.

Before anybody could stop him, he pushed off and raced after Hermione.

His heart sank as he noticed Hermione was about to fall. He willed his broomstick to go faster. As he reached Hermione, he pulled her onto his broom and made his way back to the teacher.

As they landed, Madam Hooch stared at Harry, speechless.

Harry looked at Hermione, who was shaking and asked, "Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded as Madam Hooch finally spoke up.

"That was very impressive, Mr. Potter, would you like to join the Ravenclaw Quidditch team next year?"

Hermione gasped, but Harry was unsure. From what he could see already, the sport was dangerous, and Hermione had already nearly injured herself in class. "I'm not sure, Professor Hooch. My first experience with brooms hasn't been the safest."

Madam Hooch frowned. "I understand, Harry, and I hope you'll join, that was some excellent flying."

Harry and Hermione made their way over to dinner, discussing the flying lesson.

"I'm proud of you for the quidditch team offer, Harry, and I'm prouder that you've asked for time to think about it. Thanks for saving me, and thank you for thinking about safety."

"It was nothing. I couldn't let you fall, Hermione."

Hermione smiled at him as she finished her dinner. "I'll see you in the common room, Harry."

Harry nodded as he was visited by a red-haired boy, who introduced himself as Ron Weasley.

"I was wondering if you would want to play chess with me. No one in my House wants to."

Harry nodded and said, "Come on, then."

Smiling, Ron followed Harry to a empty spot.

After, several games, which Harry only won once, the two boys bid each other farewell and made their ways to their respective dormitories.

The next morning, Harry and Hermione met for breakfast. "Hermione, I'm wondering," Harry started, after his third biscuit, "what do students do after Hogwarts. Do they attend universities? Are there prizes?"

Hermione frowned. "I don't know. I guess I got a little caught up in being in this new world that I didn't think to ask. Why don't we do some research in the library later?"

Later proved to be that Saturday, after lunch. They had some essays to write, so they had to go to the library anyways. After they made some headway on their essays ("But Harry, Hildegard is so interesting, I want to read more about her!"), Harry and Hermione went to find the books on magical schooling. They learned that there were schools throughout Europe and in America, that they could have attended Beauxbatons in France ("It's pronounced 'Bow-bah-ton', Harry") or Durmstrang in Germany "That reminds me of something I've read, Harry, but I can't remember what." "We'll have to look it up later, then.") Still, there was no trace of information about a wizarding university, although it appeared that there were magical researchers who worked on alchemy. Some of them, it appeared, had taken apprentices. The idea of apprenticeship as the path to research seemed odd, since it would seem that there would be fewer researchers in each generation, if that were true. "Hermione, this doesn't look right. There should be something other than apprenticeship. There should be colleges. And research institutions, and companies. But I'm not seeing that."

"I know. And there should be a lot more spell inventions and progress. Where do they think magic comes from? I wonder how social issues are handled here."

"What do you mean?" Harry narrowed his eyes in concentration, curious as to what his friend had to say.

"Well, I mean, how are," Hermione lowered her voice here, "gay and lesbian people treated? Would a trans witch be able to go to her dormitory? Would people even acknowledge she's a witch and not a wizard? Do witches get jobs as easily as wizards, once we're out of school? Who raises the kids."

Harry paused for a moment, thoughtful. "I don't know. We should find out. It would be sad if this world was less advanced than the one we come from."

They vowed to research it later, but school work piled up in heaps.

**Hope you guys like the story, don't forget to review.**


	5. Chapter 5: Interactive Research

**Chapter Five: Interactive Research and Trolling**

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

Nearly two months had passed since their first flying lesson and Harry couldn't believe that it was now Halloween. Throughout the months, they had spent quite a lot of time strengthening their friendship (Harry now knew that Hermione loved cats, Shakespeare, and the color green) and their research. Over the course of their research, Harry and Hermione had found out some disturbing truths about the wizarding world, and how it treated others, particularly those who weren't wealthy and pureblood. It seemed just like the racism in muggle Britain, something that was entirely disheartening to the researchers. And, speaking of the researchers, Harry and Hermione had decided it was important to branch out in their friendship, at least to include other students from their house. And so they befriended fellow Ravenclaws Terry Boot. Anthony Goldstein, Sue Li and Padma Patil, as well as Padma's sister Parvati from Gryffindor House. Terry joined their research with enthusiasm, Anthony brought a cold, intellectual stance, Sue was friendly, but preferred to do what she liked to call "interactive research" (she preferred to obtain information from other students than from books), Padma had learned from her parents quite a bit about pureblood customs both in Britain and in India, where their families came from, and Parvati proved similarly to have learned quite a bit at home, but enjoyed joining Sue for her interactive research trips, as it gave her extra gossip material. Parvati was also, during this same time, collecting blackmail evidence against some of the school's most obnoxious purebloods, something she had done ever since one of them had called her a racist slur. Parvati was sure that Harry and the others knew would approve of about her side projects, but wanted them to have plausible deniability if ever asked about their involvement. They also had decided to explore the earlier opening offer of friendship from the Weasley twins, who had seemed nice enough, and seemed to be rather intelligent. They had still made little progress on finding out why the apprentice system was still in place. Hermione had also sent for some books on universities, knowing that her parents would be able to provide some useful information to them.

On Halloween morning, the students of Hogwarts woke up to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making things fly, something that Harry and Hermione were very eager to try. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Naturally, Harry and Hermione paired up, and Sue and Padma worked together. Ron Weasley, with whom Harry had played a game of chess, paired himself with Neville Longbottom, the nervous-looking boy who had lost his toad on the train. Parvati Patil's books were neatly set out on her desk next to her friend Lavender Brown's. Lavender, also aboard the gossip train, shared nearly everything she learned with Parvati, which conveniently fed Parvati's love for rumours and blackmail data bank at once.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual.

"Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too, never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Harry let Hermione, who was nearly jumping in her seat, try the spell first.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping.

"Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Hermione was in a very good mood by the end of class, which she had spent helping others to learn the spell. She came back to the desk she shared with Harry. "Sue and Padma went on to lunch, but I thought I'd wait for you. You did really well, the professors should just take you on as a teaching assistant." Unknown to Harry, those words put a thought that wouldn't budge in Professor Flitwick's mind.

"Thanks, Harry. I need to go to the library. Do you want to come with me?"

Harry smiled and nodded.

They made their way to the library. As soon as they got there, a stench reached their nostrils.

Confused, they looked around and then they heard it.

There was a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet coming towards them.

They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of light from a lamp.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite gray, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

Hermione whispered, "We need to go tell the teachers now."

Harry agreed and they quickly made their way to the staffroom.

As soon as they got there, they realized that the teachers were gone. Out of plans, Harry decided there was only one thing to do.

"Hermione, go find the teachers." he said as he walked back to the library.

"Harry, where are you going?" asked Hermione.

Harry ignored her and ran the rest of the way back to the troll.

Harry heard the troll roar and realized that something was going on.

As he reached the troll, he saw that it was knocking over bookcases.

Harry pulled out his wand and cried the first spell that came into his head: "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high into the air, turned slowly over, and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole library tremble, causing several books to fall.

Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. He thought to himself, _That was very Gryffindor. You're supposed to be a Ravenclaw._

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made him look up. He hadn't realized what a racket the troll had been making. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Hermione and Professors Snape, Quirrell, and Flitwick, with Padma and Sue, who had followed, noticing that something was wrong, bringing up the rear. Their nervous Defence professor took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a chair, clutching his heart.

Professor Snape bent over the troll. Hermione ran over to Harry, hugging him tightly.

"Never do that again, Harry."

Harry realized that Hermione was crying.

"Mione, it's ok, I'm fine."

Sue and Padma shuffled their feet awkwardly, "Harry, please don't do that" - "Harry, we care about you." Harry, almost tearful himself, brought them all in for a group hug.

Professor McGonagall was looking at Harry. He had never seen her look angry before, and was entirely certain he didn't wish to see this again.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. "You're lucky you weren't killed."

Harry said, "Hermione and I were on our way to the library when we saw the troll. We ran to the staff room to try to find you, but saw that nobody was there. I came back to make sure the troll didn't get away, while Hermione tried to find a teacher."

Professor McGonagall stared at Harry in disbelief and then shared a glance with Professor Flitwick.

"Mr. Potter, you will serve a detention with me," said Professor Flitwick. "However, for your actions, you have won Ravenclaw ten points. Now go to the Great Hall, the feast is about to start."

Glad that his friends were safe, Harry followed them back to the Great Hall.

"Harry, if you ever do that again-."

The lecture was interrupted as the entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put the troll out of their minds.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Harry filled a plate for Hermione and handed it to her, as Padma and Sue piled their dishes high with delicacies.

"Thanks, Harry.I was scared about earlier."

"Mione, I'm here. Nothing bad happened."

Harry smiled reassuringly at his friend and began to eat.

**Thank you all for the love you've given this story. I hope you all are enjoying the story, and, if you were here for the initial story, I hope you like the changes I've made since adopting the fic. Read, review, and enjoy, and feel free to drop me a line at my tumblr justamerplwithabox or on here.**


	6. Chapter 6: Emergency Meeting

**Chapter 6: Emergency Meeting in the Library **

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

As they entered November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy gray and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaverskin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun. The first match would be Gryffindor vs Slytherin. On Saturday, everybody but Harry would be going down to the stands to watch the match. Harry would be serving his detention with Professor Flitwick during the game.

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

By eleven o'clock the whole school besides Harry seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. His friends looked apologetic as they followed the rest of the students, but Harry waved them off, not wanting them to feel guilty.

Harry made his way to Professor Flitwick's office, ready to serve his detention.

"Oh, good, you're here, Potter. Follow me."

Harry followed the professor to the 3rd floor, where they stopped at a locked door.

Professor Flitwick unlocked it and went inside.

As soon as Harry, walked into the room, he noticed a huge, three-headed dog fast asleep.

Bewildered, Harry asked, "Professor, what's going on?"

The short wizard replied, "Professor Dumbledore wanted me to check on several enchantments, which are guarding something very important. You should keep this quiet to the other students."

Harry nodded as they walked over to a trapdoor, but had no intention from keeping this from at least Hermione, especially if she asked. They were keeping an animal locked up unfed, as far as Harry knew, one which posed a great danger to the students and to whom the students also posed a danger. This didn't look safe, and Harry was willing to bet the Weasley twins had already been in here.

Professor Flitwick opened it and jumped down, landing with a funny, muffled sort of thump.

"Come on down, Potter."

Harry jumped down and landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.

As soon as Harry had landed, Professor Flitwick squeaked, "_Lumos."_

The plant they had landed on shriveled away as Professor Flitwick's wand tip ignited.

"Devil's Snare?" asked Harry as he stood up and made his way towards the wall.

Flitwick looked amused as he nodded and walked over to Harry.

"Well done, Potter. A point to Ravenclaw. This way," he said, pointing down a stone passageway, which Harry had not seen. "We should hurry. The match might be over soon."

Harry nodded as they made their way through the passageway.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and Harry was reminded of Gringotts. With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank. Shuddering at the thought of what would happen if they met a dragon, Harry asked, "What's supposed to be down here, Professor?"

Flitwick looked thoughtful as he attempted to word his response without giving his student too much information.

"A friend of the Headmaster asked him to keep a personal belonging of his safe. What we are walking through are several defenses for it."

Harry nodded, still a little unsure of why the headmaster would be securing an object here, as they walked into a room full of what appeared to be small, jewel-bright birds. A split second later, Harry realized that they were actually keys.

Flitwick looked at Harry and said, "I heard about your first flying lesson. What we need right now is the key to that door."

Harry nodded and seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. He grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.

Harry then spotted a key that matched the door knob.

He quickly leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand.

Harry landed and ran to the door, where Flitwick was waiting. He rammed the key into the lock and turned it. Flitwick pulled the door open, revealing a dark room.

As they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces.

Harry thought to himself, _Where's Ron when you need him?_

Flitwick looked around the room and waved his wand, causing the chess pieces to move out of the way.

"I was never good at chess." said Flitwick as they made their way into the next chamber.

Or, Harry supposed, a Charms master.

They stepped into a room that held a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line. As soon as they crossed the threshold, a fire immediately sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.

"Don't worry, Potter. This room can't keep two Ravenclaws in it."

Flitwick looked closely at each bottle and picked the smallest bottle.

"This one will get us across the black flames. I want you to go first, it will refill as soon as you're across. Wait for me and don't do anything."

Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames as he drained the little bottle in one gulp.

He felt as though ice was flooding his body. He put the bottle down and walked forward. Several seconds later, Harry was on the other side, which had a strange-looking mirror in the middle of the chamber.

A minute later, Flitwick had joined him.

"Looks like everything's in order."

"What kind of mirror is that?"

Flitwick seemed to ignore the question as he inspected the mirror.

Several minutes later, he and Harry had made their way back to the 3rd floor.

"Well, you have served your detention. Have a good day, Potter."  
Harry certainly wasn't going to keep any of this to himself. He immediately went to Hermione and called an emergency meeting in the library. Hermione was outraged. "If I wrote to my parents about this, they'd have me out of school right away. And that poor dog. We'll have to keep an eye on the situation."

**Hope you guys like it. Don't forget to review.**


	7. Chapter 7: Uses of Philosopher's Stone

**Chapter Seven: The Uses of the Philosopher's Stone**

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban. The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While they waited, Harry and his friends studied mostly in the library, earning them confused looks from other students. Unfortunately, due to all this studying, they had little time to do more research on what Dumbledore might be hiding, protecting.

One day, Professor McGonagall had come around, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Harry had signed up at once. Hermione, however, was terribly homesick, and she immediately decided to visit her parents for the holidays. Terry, Parvati, and Padma were making their way home too, but it turned out that Sue and Anthony were staying on campus with Harry.

Having already offered his goodbyes to Terry, Parvati, and Padma, Harry turned to his first, and closest friend.

"Have a good holiday, Hermione. I'll miss you.." said Harry as Hermione was about to leave.

Hermione smiled at him and, hugging him tightly, gave a response heavily muffled by his coat but still audible. " I'll miss you too, Harry. Don't forget to write."

Once the holidays had started, Harry spent his time with Anthony and Sue in the library, trying to figure out what it was that had so many enchantments protecting it.

One day in the library, Ron came over looking for Harry, who was reading _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_.

"Harry?"

Harry started as Ron approached him.

"Harry, why are you spending the holiday in the library?"

"Just trying to catch up on some reading, and hanging out with Sue and Anthony. Did you need something?"

"Yeah, do you want to play chess or something?"

"How about tonight, after dinner, we'll go to Ravenclaw Tower and have a few matches between the four of us?"

Ron nodded. "I'll see you at dinner, then."

"What are the uses of the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry, Anthony, and Sue tried to figure out the riddle, while Ron looked amazed at the way of getting into the Ravenclaw common room. Finally, Sue produced the answer.

"The stone can transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which makes the drinker immortal."

"Well said."

Ron continued to look amazed as they entered the common room.

Choosing a spot near a fire, they started to play chess.

After all of them had lost several games to Ron and had more even outcomes playing one another, Harry gave up and said, "It's getting late, you should get back to your common room."

Ron nodded and said, "I'll see you all on Christmas."

They all responded positively, sending their acquaintance off smiling.

On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward to the next day for the food and the fun.

When he woke early in the morning, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.

Standing beside his presents was a creature with big ears.

"Master Potter, it been a long time since I's sees you." squeaked the creature.

Harry asked, "Master?"

The creature nodded its head and introduced itself.

"I is Tony the house-elf. I is caring for the Potter's since you was a baby. I is your personal elf."

Harry smiled and said, "Merry Christmas, Tony."

Tony smiled back and said, "I got yous a present."

Harry said, "You didn't have to."

"Tony felt the need to get yous something. Us house-elves do the bidding of our Masters."

"Tony, do me a favor and don't call me Master, just call me Harry."

Tony looked at him and said, "Of course, I calls you Harry. Is there anything you want mes to do for yous?"

Harry thought to himself and said, "Actually, there is one thing that's been on my mind. I want to know what the teachers are protecting. It's on the 3rd floor, but be careful. There are several enchantments."

Tony said, "I will do Master Harry's bidding."

Harry nodded as Tony bowed and disappeared with a loud crack, causing the other boys to wake up.

"Something wrong, Harry?" asked Anthony.

Harry replied, "No, it was just my house-elf. My house-elf I didn't know I had. I've sent him off to find out about the thing we've been researching."

Anthony woke up entirely and started opening his presents as Harry turned to his.

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Master Harry, From Tony. Inside was a magical harmonica. Every time it was played, it showed what the player was thinking of at the moment. Harry blew it and saw an image of his parents.

Trying not to be overcome by feelings, Harry opened the rest of his presents.

From his Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, he got a pair of old socks. Hah.

From Ron, he got his very own brand new chess set. Anthony had given him a deck of exploding snap cards. "Ah, well, he was always jealous of my eyebrows, wasn't he?"

Sue sent him a book on the history of spell inventions. From Terry, he'd gotten a book on his family's history. He turned to thank his friend, who was apparently already in the shower.

His present from Hermione appeared at first to just be a box of chocolate frogs, but then he saw a card that said Love From, Hermione. Inside the card slot, there was also a gift certificate for Madam Malkin's, with a note attached: "So we can go shopping together." Wow, Hermione, Harry thought, this was amazing.

Before he opened his last present, the other boys in his dormitory had left.

His remaining gift was very light. As he unwrapped it, something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Harry's eyes widened as he realized what it was. As he threw the cloak around his shoulders, his suspicions were confirmed. Someone had sent him an Invisibility Cloak. As he pulled off the cloak, he noticed that there was a note.

Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:

Your father left this in my possession before he died.

It is time it was returned to you.

Use it well.

A Very Merry Christmas to you.

There was no signature. Harry stared at the note, slightly confused.

Harry put the cloak where nobody could find it as Tony popped back into the room.

"Master Harry, I is finding out what the item is."

Harry smiled and asked, "What is it?"

"Tis the Philosopher's Stone. Tony is getting it if you wish?"

Harry thought about it for a moment and said, "If they are trying to protect it, then that means that someone is trying to steal it. Can you bring it here?"

Tony nodded and popped out of the room.

As Harry, put away his presents, Tony reappeared, holding a blood-red stone.

Harry took it from him and said, "Thank you, Tony."

Tony bowed and said, "I is working with the other house-elves."

Harry nodded and Tony popped out.

Harry looked at the stone, thinking of what to do with it.

Harry decided to stick it at the bottom of his trunk, knowing that nobody would think that it was there.

Just in case, Harry put a charm on his trunk that only allowed him to open it.

He then made his way down to the Great Hall.

Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic party favors were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside. Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Anthony and it didn't just ban, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice.

Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. A prefect with red hair nearly broke his teeth on a silver sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided. Sue had to duck under the table to hide her laughter at that. Even the prefects were grinning at that.

When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack on non-explodable balloons and a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. Not until he climbed into bed was he free to think about the invisibility cloak and whoever had sent it.

Harry leaned over the side of his bed and pulled the cloak out from his trunk.

He let the material flow in his hands, falling asleep almost instantly.


	8. Chapter 8: Harebrained and Dangerous

**Chapter Eight: Harebrained and Dangerous**

The next day, Harry woke up and noticed that he fell asleep holding his father's old cloak. Luckily, the other boys in his dormitory had already left for breakfast. Harry quickly got up and put the cloak back in his trunk and made his way to the Great Hall. Term wasn't over until the next week, so the Great Hall was almost empty.

As soon as Harry had finished his breakfast, he made his way to the library to read up on the stone. He wasn't sure whether or not to tell the others what he had done. He certainly wanted to share it with at least Hermione, in case something happened to him.

Harry walked up and down the bookcases, searching for the book that would answer his questions. He knew not to ask the librarian, because she was a strict, old woman.

Harry stopped at a certain bookcase and pulled out an enormous old book. Harry struggled slightly as he walked over to a table.

Harry opened a page at random and read: _The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

_There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover._

Mr. Nicholas Flamel certainly seemed to fit the part of being Professor Dumbledore's friend, so that made sense to Harry. What he didn't understand was why Mr. Flamel would be willing to put a school full of children at risk for the sake of his own immortality, if he was a decent person.

Harry fell into a pensive state. He struggled with the question of how to tell his friends without anyone else knowing. Harry wasn't naive, he knew that with high likelihood, there were probably spells and charms in place to listen in on the students to ensure their safety, and he didn't want to put the location of the stone at risk to whomever might be trying to steal it. Harry shook himself, got up, and went to look through his charms text for a privacy charm, then, unsatisfied by the elementary nature of the spells he found. He pulled out an advanced charms text at the library to look through the privacy section. He found some protective enhancements, but _salvio hexia _and _protego totalum _weren't what Harry needed. But - wait - what was that scribbled in the margin? "Useless enchantments, all of them. Muffliato is far better. I bet Old Snivellus didn't think we heard him use that one. Keeps others from hearing what you're trying to say."

Harry wondered who Old Snivellus was, and who was fool enough to leave this in a library book! To risk Madam Pince's wrath over writing in her precious books was hazardous enough, but to risk this information falling into the wrong hands - that was even worse. It sounded like this was some secret spell - to make it common knowledge was harebrained and dangerous. Harry wanted to wipe the text clean, so nobody else would discover his spell, but didn't know how. He would research that later - now, his stomach beckoned him to the Great Hall for another meal.

The next week, a day before classes started again, after some chit chat, Harry whispered a quick Muffliato and told Hermione what he had learned while she was gone.

"So, that's what happened over Christmas break. How was your holiday?"

Hermione stared wide-eyed at him and said, "Harry, you have to tell someone about this."

Harry shook his head and said, "I won't until I'm sure of who's trying to steal it."

"At least tell our friends?" Hermione implored him.

"I've told you so that someone other than me knows. I don't want this getting out."

Hermione sighed as she bade Harry good night. She knew her best friend well enough to know that he wouldn't budge.

The next morning in DADA, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry and Hermione were still discussing what they should do with the Sorcerer's Stone beneath a carefully applied muffliato when Harry felt a pain in his forehead as Professor Quirrell passed by them.

"Harry, are you alright?" asked Hermione, in a low whisper.

Harry whispered back. "It's nothing."

Harry looked shocked as their teacher looked slightly worried about something.

When class was over, Harry and Hermione were talking about the upcoming Quidditch match.

"I hope you're actually there this time."

Harry smiled and said, "I will be."

Hermione looked at him and said seriously, "What are we going to do about the Stone?"

"Mione, don't worry about that. Everything will be fine."

When Hermione looked unsure, Harry said, "It's safe. All we need to worry about is who's trying to take it."

Hermione gasped as she thought of something.

"What if we tell Professor Snape?"

Harry looked at her, hesitantly and asked, "I don't know. I'll think about it."

Hermione smiled and said, "Alright."

The next afternoon, Harry and his friends trooped out to the field and found a place in the stands. Terry, a quidditch enthusiast, looked terribly excited, meanwhile Sue and Hermione were busy trying to cover up in the cold.

Harry would have had no idea what was happening during the match but for the helpful explanations provided by Terry and official quidditch commentator Lee Jordan's shouted plays. Apparently the Gryffindor team was skilled, but had a subpar seeker. From what Harry could see, the plays were rapid, and the Gryffindor team was winning. As time after time the skilled chasers, whom Harry learned were Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet, made passes and fakes that led them to the hoops and past the keeper, Gryffindor was running 160-40 against Slytherin, but then the Slytherin seeker, Higgs, caught the snitch, the little ball Harry had seen a few times glinting, ending the match. Lee Jordan groaned, as Terry explained that the catch set the final score at 160-190, and that Slytherin had won the match.

As soon as the match was over, Harry turned quietly to Hermione, "I'm going to tell Professor Snape about the Stone."

Hermione smiled and asked, "Do you want me to go with you?"

Harry smiled back and replied, "Sure."

Harry quickly turned to the others. "Guys, we need to go ask Professor Snape something. We'll see you back at Ravenclaw Tower."

Luckily, they found Professor Snape leaving the Great Hall.

"Sir, I have something to tell you. It's something important." said Harry as Hermione encouraged him.

Snape looked at both first years and said, "Follow me."

**I know it was short but I hope you guys like it.**

**Should Harry tell his friends or should they scold him for not saying anything? Should Hermione go behind his back and tell them?**


	9. Chapter 9: Hit Him!

Shoutout to angstar54 for the advice on whether or not to have Harry tell the others. _Boy is he in for it, though. _A very special thanks to all of my wonderful reviewers out there, and to all of you readers who have stuck with me as I've worked to expand upon the wonderful work of smoshfan777. I'm of the opinion that addressing the abuse that Harry's received from the Dursleys is an important thing to do, in some way or another. In this story, I see it not being as insurmountable or bad a struggle for Harry, but despite his support system, I still think it's important that he handle that shit. Do you want that to come up with his friends in the next chapter, from a professor, later on, or not at all? xoxo Merpl

**Chapter Nine: Hit Him!**

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

Harry and Hermione followed their potions professor to his office. As they navigated the halls, Harry looked around, nervously, noting every portrait and paying close attention to all of the smudges on the walls. When they reached the office, Harry looked nervously around at the shelves lined with jars, and he wasn't looking forward to the discussion that was to come at all.

As soon as the door was closed, the worried professor asked, "What is this about, Mr. Potter?"

Harry filled him in about everything that he had discovered.

When Harry was done talking, Snape looked at both of them with stern eyes and asked.

"How is it possible that a first-year managed to take the Stone?"

Harry blushed slightly and, not wanting to get Tony in trouble, said, "It's a long story, but I figured that since it was under protection, that somebody might be trying to steal it. One of my house elves helped me, but I don't want him to get in trouble."

Snape looked pensive as he took in Harry's words.

After a moment, in which, Harry and Hermione looked at each other nervously, Snape said, "A house elf. Of course we would miss - Do not worry about anything. I will attempt to bring the situation– under control as quickly as possible. Thank you for telling me this. Now, if that is all, would you and your girlfriend go to your dormitory. I have business to attend to."

Harry, unused to having friends, much less the thought of a girlfriend, stammered. "I-She's-."

Snape looked as though he was about to smile and said, "Mr. Potter, if you would."

Harry nodded and followed Hermione out of Professor Snape's office.

Hermione looked happy that Harry had listened to her. "Thanks, Harry."

Harry looked confused as he realized something.

"I wonder why he didn't ask about the Stone."

Hermione replied, "He probably thought that it would be safer with you."

Harry looked pensive as he thought of Snape's actions. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about Hermione. He knew he cared about her, and that she had been the first person to show him love, but Harry didn't know exactly what love was, and he wasn't sure if he felt _that way _about Hermione. He felt lucky that she hadn't said anything either way, as Harry wouldn't have been able to handle that.

A soft voice cut into his musings. "Are you sure you don't want to tell the others?"

"Hermione, the fewer people know, the safer we are. I don't want to put us at risk, okay?"

They went over to meet Terry, Sue, and the others at the library, and set to their actual homework, relieved that the stone had been taken care of. Harry joked around with Terry about the many uses of the Bezoar ("Yeah, will a bezoar heal me if I'm constipated?" "You're full of prunes, mate!") and Anthony and Sue reenacted scenes between Merlin and Morgana for them all. Parvati and Padma mostly just worked ("Hey Pav, what can you tell me about the uses of dragon's blood?" "Well, it's got twelve uses. What do you need to know?") and those interactions set the tone for their study session. All in all it was a good time.

The next day, the Ravenclaws had Defence Against the Dark Arts. Harry and his friends got to the classroom before anybody else.

The minute that Harry had stepped into the classroom, a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead, causing him to fall almost instantly.

"Harry? What's wrong?"

Harry started gasping as Professor Quirrell looked at him curiously.

Harry tried to get up as the pain in his scar vanished slightly. Before he could rise, Quirrell grabbed his arm roughly.

"Professor! What are you doing?" asked Hermione, slightly confused.

"Shut up, you silly girl!" yelled an unseen voice.

The voice seemed as though it was coming from Quirrell himself.

Petrified, he watched as Quirrell let go of his arm, reach up and begin to unwrap his turban.

Parvati shrieked as Quirrell turned slowly on the spot, and Terry let out a terrified moan.

Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound.

Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Harry Potter." it whispered.

"I know that you have the Stone. Why don't you be a good boy and give it to me."

Harry stumbled backward as Quirrell started walking backward at him.

"Give me the Stone. NOW!"

"Never!"

Harry sprang towards Hermione and said, "RUN! ALL OF YOU."

Hermione had a better plan. She whispered to the others to act afraid, and asked Sue, the fastest runner among them, to go for help. Silly little girl, she was not. Hermione had faced that kind of treatment from the boys who had bullied her in grade school for far too long. Sue darted out of the classroom.

As Harry was about to help his friends to follow her, he felt Quirrell's hand close on his wrist. At once, a needle-sharp pain seared across Harry's scar; his head felt as though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his might, and, to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him.

Harry noticed that Quirrell was somehow dissolving into nothing just as the pain in his scar receded. At that, his friends truly were, gobsmacked.

There was chaos in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom as Voldemort, Quirrell and Harry were all yelling. Hermione very nearly cried out.

Harry was tackled to the ground by Quirrell, who then pinned him to the ground with his knees.

Voldemort yelled, "Kill him!"

Before Quirrell could do anything, Harry reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face, as Hermione and the others pummelled Quirrell at her cry of "Hit him!"

As Quirrell rolled off of him, Harry fainted.

The last things Harry heard were Voldemort yelling and "Potter!"

**Hope you guys like it. Don't forget to review. **


	10. Chapter 10: The Cunning of a Villain

**Chapter Ten: The Cunning of a Villain**

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

Harry opened his eyes and thought he saw a pair of black dots. He blinked. It was a pair of eyes.

Harry blinked again and the face of Professor Snape swam into view above him.

As soon as Snape noticed that Harry was awake, Snape asked, "Potter, what happened?"

"Are the others okay?" asked Harry, as soon as he had adjusted to the concept of alertness.

Harry told him the story of what happened the moment that he entered the DADA classroom.

As soon as Harry was done speaking, Snape sighed and said, "That's what I gathered from what the others told me. Although the additional insight about your scar is helpful. I'm afraid I will have to ask for the Stone. Keeping it has put you in danger. We cannot allow that to happen again. I shouldn't have already allowed it to happen."

Harry nodded, but stopped quickly, because it made his head hurt.

"What happened to Quirrell?"

Snape's lip curled slightly as he said, "It appears that what was left of him dissolved the minute I appeared."

Harry looked at Snape openmouthed in shock, causing Snape's mouth corners to lift a bit.

Harry looked around the room and realized that he was in the Hospital Wing.

"How long have I been here, Sir?"

"You have been in here for 3 days. Now, I suggest that you get some rest."

Harry nodded slowly as Snape left.

Several seconds later, Hermione had appeared.

"_Harry!"_

Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around him, but Harry was glad she held herself in as his head was still very sore.

"Harry, how do you feel?"

"I feel a bit better. I should be able to get out of here by tonight."

Hermione smiled as she sat next to Harry. "I've - everyone's been really worried-"

Before, Harry or Hermione could say anything more, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"The boy needs rest. Return to your dormitory, you'll have plenty of time for chit chat when he's healthy."

Hermione hugged Harry tightly and then left.

After a few hour's sleep, Harry felt next to normal.

"Can I go now?" asked Harry.

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips and said, "Everything seems in order. If you feel any pain come immediately back to me."

Harry nodded and jumped out of bed.

Harry made his way down to the end-of-year feast alone, his friends already there. The Great Hall was full and decked out in the Slytherin colors of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the house cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. He slipped into a seat in between Hermione and Padma at the Ravenclaw table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him.

Fortunately, Professor Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.

"Another year gone!" said Dumbledore cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into another delicious meal. What a year, what a year! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were, you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts."

At this, Dumbledore winked at Harry, who looked confused.

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes, first, to Miss Padma Patil, Mr. Terry Boot, and Mr. Anthony Goldstein, five points for showing the courage of which Godric Gryffindor himself would approve. To Miss Sue Li, for alerting a teacher and helping save a friend in need, I award Ravenclaw house ten points." All of those students, however, were looking stony-faced, as they gracefully nodded to those applauding them. "And to Miss Hermione Granger, for showing the bravery of an auror, wit beyond measure, the loyalty of a badger, and the cunning of a villain, I award Ravenclaw House twenty-five points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms as Ravenclaws all around them started cheering.

"Finally, to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve, outstanding courage, and the ability to react well in a difficult situation, I award Ravenclaw house thirty points."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Ravenclaw table.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "We need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became blue and the silver became bronze; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and an eagle in flight took its place.

It was the best evening of Harry's life.

**Hope you guys like it. Don't forget to review. You still haven't told me how you feel about Harry's friends telling him off and when, so here's a cliffy while I ponder. ADVICE HUGELY WELCOMED.**


	11. Chapter 11: Responsibility of the Adults

**Sorry this one's shorter than usual. It was created out of the last few paragraphs of the original version of the previous chapter. In the original version of this story, Harry finds out about a younger brother, Ethan, next chapter/year. I'm a little iffy on that. Should he get a biological brother, or no?**

**Chapter Eleven: The Responsibility of the Adults**

Well, until after the dinner, and, even then, for other reasons, it remained the best night of Harry's life. He could see that his friends, other than Hermione, were acting oddly, as they started frogmarching him and Hermione in a different direction from Ravenclaw Tower. A minute or so later, he realized they were heading for Professor Snape's office. He stopped them. "What's this about, guys, and why are you taking Hermione and me to Professor Snape's office?"

Sue started to respond. "Harry, it's because we need you to understand that you can't just go off and do dangerous things without asking for help." Padma added, "You don't need to hide things from us. We're your friends, and we care about you."

"We're kids, this stuff isn't something any of us should have to handle alone," Terry added. Anthony nodded, "and it's something that the adults here who were involved," at this he glanced shrewdly at Professor Snape, "should have handled."

The conversation returned to Sue: "Hermione, while we were happy to help Harry, all of us were terrified out of our wits, and you broke through that to help Harry." Here, Parvati, who had not yet spoken, chimed in: "And that's great, Hermione! But I want to know why you two seem used to handling things like this. And we want you to hear it from Professor Snape too."

Hermione was tearing up, but Harry noticed that aforementioned professor had heard at least the latter half of what had been said.

"Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger, your friends are concerned. Mr. Potter, when danger arose, you asked your friends to leave you behind. Your behavior all year suggests that you act without care for your own safety. You made an improvement when you came to me for help, and I am glad that you did, and that we were able to heal you this time. Earlier this year, you took on a troll singlehandedly, Mr. Potter, but your actions here suggest that you are not accustomed to asking for help, either of you. We are here to help you, Harry. It's the responsibility of the adults here to protect you, and it's what we want to do."

Harry appreciated the sentiment, but knew that he would be returning to the Dursleys the next morning.

"Thank you professor, and thanks to all of you," Harry responded, touched.

"I'll work harder to be a good friend to all of you," sobbed Hermione.

The next day, they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; all of them talking and laughing but Harry as the countryside became greener and tidier. They all noticed this, but assumed he was just glum after the previous night's talk. Eventually, they pulled into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.

It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. When they finally did, the band of first-year friends searched for their families.

"Hermione!"

Harry and Hermione turned and saw Hermione's parents waiting next to Harry's Aunt and Uncle. The others went off to find their parents, making Harry and Hermione promise to write, and to visit.

Before Harry left, he asked, "Mrs. Granger, why were you staring at me at the beginning of the year?"

Hermione's mom reddened slightly and said, "You reminded me of my husband when he was your age."

Harry nodded, seeing how that might have been odd, as Hermione asked, "Can Harry visit during the summer?"

Hermione's parents looked at each other and said, "I don't see why not."

Harry and Hermione smiled at each other as Harry's Uncle looked torn, obviously wanting Harry unhappy but gone at the same time.

Uncle Vernon nodded and introduced himself to Hermione's parents, obviously relieved that they were normal.

**Hope you guys like it. Don't forget to review.**


	12. Chapter 12: Ethan and a Visit

**To be clear: Ethan and Harry are not biologically related. I think an OC is a good addition here, though, so we're keeping him. Capisce? Thank you all for the reviews and advice, especially willowmelodynoble and hhr fan, who advised me not to give Harry a brother, for sound logical reasons (I didn't get any votes for the brother.) And now for the chapter!**

**Chapter Twelve: Ethan and a Visit**

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

In the early hours of the morning, Harry was awake drafting a letter to Hermione. He wanted to write back to his other friends, too, but had started off with hers.

_Dear Hermione,_

_How is your summer so far?_

_I hope you are having fun, and it would be great to see you soon._

_Harry._

Harry sealed the letter and tied it to Artemis' leg, offering her an owl treat on the way. As soon as Harry opened the window, Artemis flew off into the sky.

Harry sat down on his bed.

Ever since Harry had come home for the summer holidays, he and Hermione had written to each other almost every day. Harry and his other friends had exchanged letters, yes, but they all were having busy summers. Sue was visiting some cousins in China, and sent Harry moving pictures of all the incredible things she was seeing. Harry had never imagined what Beijing was like for muggles, much less for wizards, and if seeing the neon lights and crowded roads wasn't enough for him, the secret alleys full of shops that were bigger on the inside were. There was red and gold everywhere, it felt as though Ron Weasley must have built the town. Terry was on holiday with his parents visiting the States, and had apparently seen plenty of buffalo, but Harry was quite sure Terry was pulling his wand. Anthony was visiting Grandpa and Grandma Goldstein, who were aging and required help running their farm in Wales, as they could no longer keep up as well. Apparently one of the sheep had taken a particular liking to him, and wheezed in his direction whenever he walked by. Padma and Parvati had both found summer jobs. Parvati managed to secure an internship with Madam Malkin, where she satisfied both her interest in fashion design and her love of gossip. After all, where better to find gossip than in the retail world? Padma, meanwhile, had managed to get a job as a waitress at Florean Fortescue's, as she loved ice cream and got quite a bit for free while working there - employee perks.

Hermione, meanwhile, was just staying with her parents, and her parents were paying her to work as an assistant to their receptionist at the dental practice they ran, because in the summer, the office was much busier as their young clients were out of school and their adult clients had more time off of work to come in and get their teeth cared for. Hermione often would attach a sketch of the waiting room, or of one of the patients, in her letters to Harry. Harry loved Hermione's letters, as they helped to break the dull monotony of life at Number Four, Privet Drive.

Harry felt lucky that his relatives were allowing him to keep his spellbooks, wand, robes and cauldron in his room. He spent a lot of time that summer at the library, researching universities and how they were founded. Harry was afraid to take the books home, at first, but eventually he managed to start using his library card, and read nonfiction and fiction at an almost alarming rate. Harry read Shakespeare and Austen, read all the histories of Middle Earth, and developed a proclivity for Dickens. He often felt that he understood Dickensian characters well, as they had endured a lot of the same things growing up, often living in neglectful environments.

Harry went downstairs when he heard Uncle Vernon calling him.

When he was in the same room, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said, "Now, as we all know, today is a very important day."

Harry looked up, hardly daring to believe it.

"Today is Harry's birthday and also the day I make the biggest deal of my career." said Uncle Vernon.

Harry's relatives muttered a quiet Happy Birthday. It was the better than the previous years of his life.

"Anyways, I think we should run through the schedule one more time," said Uncle Vernon. "We should all be in position at eight o'clock. Petunia, you will be-?"

"In the lunge, waiting to welcome them graciously to our home."

"Good, good. And Dudley?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile.

"May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

"They'll love him." cried Aunt Petunia.

"Excellent, Dudley." said Uncle Vernon.

Vernon turned to Harry and said, "Listen, Harry, I know today is your birthday, but I'm sure that you would rather spend it with your friend. If you want to, you could go pack up."

Harry nodded and said, "Thank you, Uncle Vernon."

Meanwhile, in a house off in the country, a boy with tan skin and brown eyes woke up to the sound of his best friend jumping on his bed.

"Ethan, wake up. It's your birthday! Your eleventh birthday! You know what that means."

Despite being raised by two nonmagical parents, Ethan grew up knowing about magic, as he had a magical best friend, Luna, whom he had met at a summer camp when he was four. She told him about his magic, and for a while, he wasn't allowed to tell his parents, but she finally relented and her parents came over to explain to them that their child was normal, and that there was nothing wrong with him. As a result, they tried to accommodate his needs for school without exposing the magical world, but ultimately decided to homeschool him, as he was bullied and had difficulty engaging with his courses. For the last five years, the Bradfords and the Longbottoms had homeschooled their three collective children together, and taught them magical subjects and non-magical ones alike, with a greater focus on the nonmagical subjects, since Hogwarts, where they would be sending their children, failed to teach those.

Oh yes - their three collective children? Ethan's younger sister Stella had not yet shown any signs of being magical, and it didn't matter to them. As she was only three years old, however, she was learning what a young toddler would be taught, magical and otherwise, whereas Ethan and Luna were studying years ahead of their nonmagical counterparts, and still managed to be relatively far ahead. This was, of course, due to the excellent start that Luna's mother, Selene, had given them in her magical tutoring. When they were nine years old, however, Luna's mother had had a potions accident that put her into long recovery in the hospital - it was then that the Lovegood-Bradfords had stopped traveling. For a while, they had been forced to hire a potions tutor and a charms tutor, since Mr. Lovegood was rather rusty in those areas, but Luna and Ethan were glad to have Mrs. Lovegood back and ready to teach them when she finally finished her recovery a year later. A tutor just wasn't the same. Ethan's moms were both more than qualified to tutor the children in muggle subjects. Their families didn't have much, growing up, but his Mum and his Ma had both worked really hard to achieve top marks in grade school, and had put themselves through university. Until they met the Lovegoods, the two women had had to work long hours for low pay as engineers at a company that was somewhat more open-minded.

Ethan didn't see his grandparents on either side very often, as both sets had apparently disowned their children for dating. Ethan's Mum's parents had recently come around, and wanted to make an effort to get to know their grandchild and to repair their relationship with their daughter, but it was slow-going, and old habits die hard. His Dida would cook the most exquisite food whenever Ethan came to visit, and brought him clothing she said made him look like a fine young man. His Dadu was more laid-back, and would tell Ethan stories about his own childhood, and what it was like moving from Delhi to London for University. His Ma's parents were devout Catholics, and still weren't speaking to his mother. They occasionally sent Ethan gifts, and sent him invitations to church, which he nearly always found an excuse to turn down. Ethan couldn't understand how anyone could dislike his moms, but, as he got older, he realized that a lot of people would anyhow.

The boy grinned and said, "Alright, Luna, I'm up."

Ethan didn't bother waiting for Luna to leave to dress himself, pulling on a shirt and some jeans. Ethan was excited for his Hogwarts letter, as Luna had received hers already a while back. Ethan and Luna skipped to the kitchen, where Ethan and Luna plopped kisses on Stella's forehead before helping set the table.

Meanwhile, at Privet Drive, before Harry started packing he left through the back door. It was a brilliant, sunny day. He crossed the lawn and sat down on the garden bench. Hermione had told him that he would be able to visit during the summer.

Harry jumped to his feet as he realized what Hermione had meant. He would actually be able to _visit her. _He ran to his room and started packing. He didn't know how long he'd be staying, so he grabbed a backpack and a over-the-shoulder sports bag, and stuffed a few tops, some boxers, and a pair of jeans into the sports bag, shoved his textbooks in his backpack, rushed a few toiletries into his sports bag, grabbed his library book on universities and put it in his backpack, and decided he had packed well enough.

As soon as he was done packing, he heard a crack and two house-elves appeared.

"Tony? What's going on?"

Harry didn't recognize the second house-elf.

"Harry Potter must not go back to school. Tis dangerous this year." said the unknown house-elf.

As Harry was about to speak, there was a knock on his door, and the unknown house-elf vanished.

"Come in." said Harry.

Uncle Vernon stepped in and said, "Harry, I called your friend's parents and they said they will be here any minute. Do you want me to help carry anything down?"

Harry shook his head and said, "It's alright, Tony can do it."

Uncle Vernon looked at Tony and said, "Preposterous." He then stepped out of the room.

Chuckling, Harry thought of when he introduced the Dursleys to his house-elf.

"Who was that other house-elf, Tony?"

Tony said, "I is not knowing. He is trying to steal Master's mail. I is stopping him."

Harry responded, "Thank you, Tony."

Tony helped Harry with his trunk and empty owl cage as they made their way downstairs. Harry didn't give the idea much further thought, since he was excited to be seeing Hermione.

As soon as they reached the bottom step, the doorbell rang and Uncle Vernon went to answer the door.

**I hope you guys like it, don't forget to review.**


	13. Chapter 13: Couldn't Be Prouder

**Chapter Thirteen: Couldn't Be Prouder**

**Just a PSA: at the top of the chapter, there will be some problematic shit. Vernon is being subtly sexist/asinine/problematic in this chapter. All the stuff where Hermione gets called Harry's girlfriend and gets treated weirdly for being affectionate is going to be resolved later. I haven't decided whether or not I ultimately am going to pair Harry and Hermione up, but at this point, they're twelve, and these assumptions are really creepy, and so this is a content warning I guess. Also Petunia and Vernon are being bad people in this chapter. They've changed their behavior out of fear, they still don't love Harry and they're still bad people. And the Dursleys **_**will be called out on their abuse. **_**Dudley will change, but right now he's just going to be jealous, and not make genuine changes. I do not condone the Dursleys' behavior or thoughts, but I'm not just going to redeem them and ignore their attitudes.**

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

The minute that Uncle Vernon opened the door, Hermione rushed into the room and hugged Harry tightly.

"Harry, I missed you."

Harry could barely breathe, but managed a "you too, 'Mione. It's good to see you."  
Seeing that her friend was having difficulty breathing, Hermione loosened her hug, but held onto Harry's shoulders. It had been all summer she'd spent alone with her family, as she didn't have any friends from school before Hogwarts, since she'd been bullied badly in school beforehand. Hermione craved human contact, and had missed all her friends terribly. Getting to see Harry was her first trip outside of the dental practice and the library all summer, really. She was especially excited at the thought that her friend might stay over for the rest of the summer.

Uncle Vernon, however, snorted at the affection the girl was showing the young w-boy. So his nephew had found himself a girlfriend, had he? The girl was practically all over him. Leave it to the magical world to raise them with no proper morals. He smiled, and he took comfort because he knew his Dudley would never engage in such inappropriate behavior. Vernon tried not to look too impatient, and plastered what he thought was an indulgent look on his face. Just to be sure, he looked over at his Dudley, and the proud smile became genuine. He had a fine son, after all. He loved his son. He was so proud of him, with all the work he was doing at Smeltings. Dudley had achieved low marks in his first term, but with healthy encouragement, his wife had convinced her son to spend more time studying, and, while Dudley wasn't at the top of his class, he now received good marks and was a champion on the boxing team. Dudley had made his parents the proudest they'd ever been, with his efforts this year. They knew their son worked hard, and they couldn't wait to see him blow his classmates out of the water next year. Petunia similarly had her nose turned up at the sight, of course Harry would make friends with a girl like her dratted sister, all affectionate and bubbly and excited. The girl had no proper manners, hadn't even introduced herself before practically throwing herself at the brat. At least her Dudders had good manners, he was such a sweet boy.

At this, Petunia smiled indulgently at her son, her lovely son. He had proper friends, unlike her nephew, but of course a freak would make freaky friends, wouldn't he? Freaks really would find each other, especially when they were thrown in a school together. Dudders was a good boy. He'd struggled in his first term at Smeltings, of course her baby boy did, studying all that in a new school, away from home. Petunia knew it was a good school, and that they would do their best for her son, but she also knew that they didn't have the time to really make sure that the new students settled in well. She had decided that if the school was doing insufficient work to acclimate the new students, then she would just have to do for her baby boy what they couldn't. And so she had taught her son that living out of the house was different from living at home, and that he had to do his schoolwork before going out to play. It was the harshest she'd ever been with her son, and there had been tears on both sides, but ultimately, with her encouragement and her husband's help, Dudley went back to school and made good marks. She couldn't have been prouder of her son's work even if he'd achieved top marks without trying.

Dudley, however, wasn't disgusted by what he saw - far from it. Dudley wished somebody other than his mother would hug him like that, but nobody did. After all, the boys… just didn't do that. It wasn't done. He'd improved his marks, but he still maintained his friendships with Piers and Gordon and Malcom, who weren't the best of friends, not when it came to affection. They were cool guys, but really cool guys wouldn't hug like that. And it wasn't like any of the girls he met tolerated him any longer than they had to. He supposed he'd been mean to some of them, but it wasn't like they didn't deserve it, for taking up space he'd wanted. Right? It was his right to want that, and to demand that his needs be met. He tried to push back the twinge of pain and jealousy, but he couldn't manage to come up with any snarky comment or insult for Hermione, since that's exactly what he wanted.

Mr. Granger walked in as Hermione let go of Harry.

"Hermione, what have I told you about running inside houses?"

Hermione reddened slightly as she looked down at her feet.

Harry chuckled to himself, knowing his friend's tendency towards excitement, as Mr. Granger started to speak with Uncle Vernon.

"Hermione wanted me to invite Harry to our home for the rest of the summer. My wife and I think that this is an excellent idea, and extend the offer that your nephew might stay with us for the summer. We will make sure that Harry gets to school when term starts."

Of course they'd have the child over, thought Mr. Granger. Hermione had talked about her friends all summer, and they'd been so happy and relieved to find out that their daughter had made friends at hogwarts that they probably would have taken a friend of hers on vacation to France if that's what their little girl asked for. After all the birthdays Hermione had spent alone, all the days she'd spent just sketching patients at the office and reading, Dan and Emma Granger wanted their daughter to be happy, and not alone. She seemed to care a lot about this boy in particular, and Dan was happy to welcome the boy into their home, if their friendship made his daughter happy. His daughter had always excelled in school, and while he and his wife were proud of her for achieving high marks, they had always worried because Hermione never brought any friends home. Although their daughter rarely complained, if at all, they knew Hermione was being bullied at school, and they feared and hurt for their daughter's pain each year. When she'd gotten into Hogwarts, they'd hoped that she would meet other precocious children there, and their prayers were met, when they received their first letter from their daughter. Letter after letter told them about all the friends Hermione was making, and all that she was learning, and they couldn't have been prouder of their daughter, not just for her marks, but really for the friendships she was developing. Their fears started to melt away, and they were glad that Hermione had found this world, and that she seemed to be extending them footholds into it.

Uncle Vernon nodded and gruffly said, "Get on with it, then."

"Bye, Uncle Vernon." said Harry.

In response, Uncle Vernon simply nodded, wanting the boy gone.

Bewildered, Mr. Granger grabbed Harry's trunk and owl cage as Harry and Hermione made their way to Mr. Granger's car.

Smiling, as they got into the car, Hermione asked, "Harry, what did you do to your glasses?"

Harry only said one thing.

"Dudley."

Hermione nodded and said, "We'll get them fixed on the way to Hogwarts."

Meanwhile, in Diagon Alley, Ethan and Luna were in Flourish and Blotts, buying their school supplies early. Xenophilius and Selene had taken them shopping for their schoolbooks, and Ethan's parents had taken little Stella out for ice cream.

Around them, was a crowd that seemed to be made up mostly of witches.

A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies. Don't push, there. Mind the books, now."

Ethan said, "I can't wait until we get to Hogwarts, Luna."

Luna smiled serenely and said, "Me neither."

Ethan grabbed two copies of every book they would need for the year as Luna checked what else they would need.

"Alright, now we just need our wands. Let's go tell Daddy."

As they made their way to Luna's father, they heard a commotion, and Luna and Ethan saw a man with long, blond hair drop a black book into a redheaded girl's cauldron. During the commotion, a woman shoving her way through to get to the front of the shop bumped into Ethan.

"Pardon me, are you alright, dear?" she asked.

Ethan nodded as the witch straightened up.

"Enjoy the day," said the woman as she turned back, trying to get to the front of the shop.

Nonplussed, Ethan and Luna tried to go find the redhaired girl, but had no luck. They hoped that the book was a gift, and nothing more nefarious. They went outside to find Luna's family and found them outside Ollivanders.

"Got everything, loves?" Selene asked.

"We just need our wands, mum."

Ethan nodded in agreement with Luna, eager to get his wand and to do _real magic._

Xeno looked at the two and said, "Let's go get them, then shall we?"

Luna and Ethan smiled at each other as they made their way inside the tiny shop.

It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Xeno insisted that his wife sat on to wait. Selene had recovered from her accident over a year ago, and with her current regimen of potions, she could stand up just fine, but Xeno still wanted to keep her as safe as possible. Sometimes it bothered her, since, even though her husband meant well, Selene Lovegood was a physically active woman who enjoyed running and hiking, and disliked sitting for long periods.

Ethan felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with arcane magic.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Ethan and Luna jumped as an old man walked towards them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

The man smiled eerily. "Welcome, children, are you here to get your wands?"

"Yes sir," Luna spoke first, since Ethan seemed tongue-tied.

"Thirteen inches, cherry oak and gryffin claw," Mr. Ollivander offered her her first wand to try, before he turned to look into Ethan's eyes and said, "Well, whenever you are ready, young man."

Ethan clarified, "Sir, it's Ethan, Ethan Bradford."

"Well, Mr. Bradford, we'll fit you up with a wand in no time, child."

Ollivander got on with getting them their wands, as Luna's first wand wasn't a good fit.

"Try this, Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Luna took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of her hand almost at once.

"No, no, here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Luna felt a sudden warmth in her fingers as she took the wand.

She raised the wand and brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of blue sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light onto the walls.

Ethan whooped and clapped as Xenophilius Lovegood smiled down at his daughter and said, "Well done, Luna."

He put Luna's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper as Ethan prepared to get his wand. "There you go, Ms. Lovegood. That one's excellent for charms and transfiguration. You'll do well at Hogwarts, with that one."

He then turned to Ethan, and handed him another wand."

"Maple and gryffin feather. Ten inches. Quite whippy. Go on."

Ethan felt a sudden warmth in his fingers as bronze sparks flew out of the wand as though fireworks were shooting out of it.

"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Bradford. That is quite a powerful wand you've got there, and it'll take quite a bit of control to master it. The wand is made for transfiguration; I'm sure you'll succeed at Hogwarts, but it will take a great deal of work, child."

Luna smiled and clapped as her parents congratulated Ethan on finding his wand.

"If that is all, have a good day," the elderly wandmaker offered.

Ethan and Luna paid for their wands and thanked Mr. Ollivander for helping them find their wands. Although he was a little odd, Ethan had been friends with Luna for years, and he was rather used to meeting odd people. He was grateful to have found his wand, and excited to learn magic with it.

Xenophilius smiled gleefully at the his daughter and her oldest friend. "Luna and Ethan, we're so proud of you. You're going to do fabulously at Hogwarts, and you'll make your Houses shine. We love you."

Ethan and Luna smiled, and offered a group hug to the adults. As the hug ended, the kids started a poke war.

"Well, Ethan, let's go meet the others, shall we? I'll bet Stella's shoved her face full with ice cream," Selene offered, to get the group back on track.

At this, both children giggled, and Ethan and Luna followed the adults out of the shop, ready to go see little Stella and Mum and Ma.

**Don't forget to review. Hope you guys like it.**


	14. Chapter 14: Papers from the Rubbish

**Chapter Fourteen: Papers from the Rubbish**

**I don't own Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling does.**

Several weeks had passed since the Lovegoods had taken Ethan Bradford and their daughter on a special trip to Diagon Alley for their wands. At the moment, Ethan and Luna were helping Ethan's mums with some gardening tasks at the moment. Their parents kept the children busy, knowing that otherwise, Ethan would feel restless and Luna would just jump on her bed, fall down, get excited, and run around the house. Their children needed to be kept entertained, and the parents knew just the ways to do that, having them do this and that around and outside the house.

"Luna, could you hand me the shears please?"  
"Can I cut it, please?"  
"Oh, alright, honey, just trim the roses here. Would you like me to show you how to do one?"

"Mum, you know I've done it plenty before. Are you –"

"I know, Lu, it's just - we'll miss the two of you when you're off at the school. Scotland isn't so close to here."

Luna and Ethan looked at each other, and walked up to Ethan's mums, and offered them a hug each.  
"It's alright, mum."  
"We'll miss you too."

Luna's countenance took on an impish form. "Oh, yes, we'll make plenty of trouble so they send us home."

Ethan grinned, and joined in. "Yeah, ma, we won't be away for long before they send us back and you'll be stuck with us."

For a moment, the women took on a stern look, but then broke into grins and the echoes of laughter floated into the afternoon.

Soon, the four were entangled in a group hug, and stayed that way for a while, until Luna pointed out that she was still holding shears, which was rather dangerous.

The kids had quite a bit of fun with their parents, and the parents were glad to see more of their children before they would leave for school on September 1. The children still couldn't wait for the day they finally go to Hogwarts, even though they would miss their parents.

Meanwhile, at the Granger residence, an owl arrived carrying letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for Harry and Hermione.

Harry and Hermione, grinning, opened their letters and tore through to the booklist, to find out what books they would need for the upcoming year.

Second-Year Students will require:

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 _by Miranda Goshawk

_Break with a Banshee _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Gadding with Ghouls _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Holidays with Hags _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Travels with Trolls _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Voyages with Vampires _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Wanderings with Werewolves _by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Year with the Yeti _by Gilderoy Lockhart

As Harry looked up from his booklist, he noticed that Hermione's eyes were big. Harry wondered if it was because it looked like this Lockhart had written the whole booklist. But who was he, and why had practically the entire set of books been written by him? Harry privately thought the textbooks' titles sounded quite a bit like Dudley's adventure books. This alone made him suspicious, but he'd read an article Padma had shown him last year, giggling, in Witch Weekly, and the man sounded a little too full of himself. He seemed more than eager to romanticize his stories as well, and Harry knew firsthand that anyone who had experienced true danger wouldn't want to treat it so lightly – they'd be scared out of their wits, not smiling like a wretched fool who'd had a few scotches too many. For now, Harry kept his thoughts to himself. He didn't want to air the subject with Hermione yet.

"Everything all right, Mione?"

Hermione quickly said, "Yes, everything's fine."

Bemused, Harry said, "Alright, then."

"Well, now that you two have got your schoolwork assigned, I don't see why we shouldn't go to Diagon Alley today," said Mr. Granger, knowing his daughter's reaction already.

Mr. Granger wasn't disappointed. Hermione grinned at Harry and dragged Harry out of the house by his arm, knowing her friend wouldn't protest. They made their way over to the car. The ride was an enjoyable one on the whole, especially compared to what it was usually like with the Dursleys. Hermione's father interrupted the children's exclamations about how wonderful it would be to go back to Diagon Alley again for practical purposes. He started to rattle off a list of the things they would need to do that day, both in magical and muggle London.

"So, we'll need to get your schoolbooks and some extracurricular reading, grab lunch, then we've got to stop down at the grocery store and pick up some dinner and snacks for the week. Your mum wants to finish the rest of the shopping herself, so we've just got to do that."

The children, for their part, were glad to be out of the house, and to be going both into Diagon Alley and London. "And of course, Daddy, you'll be bringing mum sugar-free chocolates, right?" Hermione teased her father, knowing her parents' odd dentistry-inspired eating habits.

"Well, I might, daughter mine, except I think we have enough of those at home already." Hermione's father was goodnatured about the teasing, and the rest of the ride was light and pleasant.

An hour later saw Harry and the Grangers to their destination.

Harry saw a familiar, snow-white marble building in the distance.

Hermione and Harry raced up the Gringotts steps.

As soon as they were inside, Hermione offered: "Harry, why don't you go to your vault and then meet us back here?"

Harry, relieved that he wouldn't have to make things awkward for Hermione, stood in line to withdraw money. Soon, after, he was led off to a cart that would bring him to his vault by a Gringotts goblin, while Hermione and her parents moved up in line to exchange notes.

When he reached his vault, Harry pulled out a leather bag and stored handfuls of coins in it. He made sure to take some extra for gifts for his friends.

Back outside on the marble steps, Harry, knowing that Mr. Granger wouldn't approve of the consumption of ice cream, scrapped his plan to take the family out for ice creams, and instead raced Hermione to Flourish and Blotts, a place they were both excited to go. As soon as they arrived, however, they noticed a huge crowd.

"I wonder what's going on here."

"Hermione, Harry, can you wait for me here, it seems a bit crowded, I'll get your books?"

Both Hermione and Harry disliked crowds and were grateful for the offer.

A little while later, a man with wavy blonde hair and blue eyes, came slowly into view. Hermione uncharacteristically gasped.

"What is it, Hermione? Are you alright?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, I'm just fine, thank you, but that's Gilderoy Lockhart. He practically wrote all the texts for the year!"

Harry didn't say anything, but instead just nodded, not wanting to question Hermione in public about her odd behavior. He was relieved, however, to see Hermione's father walking back towards them.

"Got everything?"

Harry replied, "Yes."

"Let's go, then."

They spent a while browsing the windows in the shops at Diagon Alley. Harry even managed to pick out a few small gifts for his friends – some nice quills for Terry, and an artist's print of Hogsmeade for Anthony. As the alley became more crowded, they soon headed out to nonmagical London to explore. They had to go shopping, so they headed to Waitrose for some groceries, and picked up some fruits and some kippers for dinner that night, as well as some ingredients for shepherd's pie. Hermione's father wouldn't let the children buy any sweets, but, to Harry's relief, they weren't eating stoat sandwiches like Hagrid enjoyed.

They also picked up some corned beef and quickly headed to the florist to pick out orchids for Hermione's mother – "Dad likes doing that, buying flowers for mum" – and called it a trip. Hermione also convinced her father to buy a present for her and Harry – a short compendium of crosswords for the two of them to work through. Harry had always had to nick papers from the rubbish to do crosswords when he lived with the Dursleys, as his guardians had never allowed him to have his own newspaper, and Vernon enjoyed his futile attempts at the daily puzzle. One time, his uncle had managed to finish half the puzzle by dinner the following night, and Petunia had called a toast to her husband's brilliance. Harry had, beneath their notice, managed to make his way _at least _halfway through nearly every crossword he attempted, although he wondered if he had an unfair advantage that the person before him had already filled out some of the answers. Harry could often figure out answers based on clever wordplay, which gave him an edge over other puzzlers, but he knew that he'd need better than that to fill out the entire puzzle. There were so many movies and shows he'd never been able to see, and books he'd never read. Harry was anxious and eager to see how he'd do without help. He was anxious, because even though Hermione didn't seem the type to judge him for being uncultured, _she might,_ and, worse yet, she might actually figure out more about his home life. Harry had no idea how she'd react to learning about that and was wholly terrified at the thought.

Part of him wanted to tell stories from his childhood without worrying how Hermione would react, because he had so many moments he'd like to share, but he knew his best friend was extraordinarily perceptive, and worried that she might see past his joyful moments. Even with all of this, Harry was happy that he would have a fresh start at the crossword, and was excited to learn from his undoubtedly skilled companion. Harry pondered all of these things on the way to the car, but quickly shook himself of his thoughts and rejoined the conversation Hermione was having with her father, and smiled at the thought of a delicious dinner.

**Good heavens, it's taken me forever to update. I'm on leave from school trying to start a company and yeah that's kept me really busy. I'm so sorry – I'll try to set myself to a faster track.**


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